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Massachusetts Outlaws School Bake Sales

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In an effort to better control the nutritional intake of their constituent’s children, Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a ban on school bake sales.

“At a minimum, the nosh clampdown targets so-called ‘competitive’ foods — those sold or served during the school day in hallways, cafeterias, stores and vending machines outside the regular lunch program, including bake sales, holiday parties and treats dished out to reward academic achievement,” Laurel J. Sweet and Chris Cassidy write for the Boston Herald.

“But state officials are pushing schools to expand the ban 24/7 to include evening, weekend and community events such as banquets, door-to-door candy sales and football games.”

So if your kid goes to school in Massachusetts and they need to raise a quick buck, unless they can figure out a way to market wholesome awesomeness like apples and bananas, they can pretty much rule out selling foodstuffs.

Unsurprisingly, some people are unhappy with the state’s new regulations.

“If you want to make a quick $250, you hold a bake sale,” Sandy Malec, vice president of the Horace Mann Elementary School PTO in Newtonville, told the Boston Herald.

“The goal is to raise money,” said Maura Dawley of Scituate, MA. “You’re going to be able to sell pizza. You’re not going to get that selling apples and bananas. It’s silly.”

Another resident and School Committeeman weighed in:

My concern is we’re regulating what people can eat, and I have a problem with that. I respect the state for what they’re trying to do, but I think they’ve gone off the deep end. I don’t want someone telling me how to do my job as a parent. … Is the commonwealth of Massachusetts saying our parents are bad parents?

Proponents of the measure disagree.

“We’re not trying to get into anyone’s lunch box,” Dr. Lauren Smith, Massachusetts Departments of Public Health and Education medical director, told the Herald.

“We know that schools need those clubs and resources. We want them to be sure and have them, but to do them a different way. We have some incredibly innovative, talented folks in schools who are already doing some impressive things, who serve as incontrovertible evidence that, yes, you can do this, and be successful at it,” she added.

Sen. Susan Fargo (D-MA), claims the bake sale ban is necessary because the child obesity crisis has reached “crisis” proportions, according to the Herald.

“If we didn’t have so many kids that were obese, we could have let things go,” Fargo said. “But this is a major public health problem and these kids deserve a chance at a good, long healthy life.”